Laura Bassett is a political reporter at The Huffington Post focusing on women's issues. She has a Master's degree in English Literature and gender studies from Georgetown University and has previously worked for U.S. Congress, Island Press and the Washington Post. She can be reached at lbassett@huffingtonpost.com or on Twitter @lebassett.

UPDATE: Feb. 28 -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker deleted campus rape reporting requirements from his new two-year budget this month at the request of University of Wisconsin Systems. The network of campuses said the federal government already required them to report rape statistics, and the Wisconsin state requirement forced them...

About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. But if birth control pills were available over the counter and covered by insurance, the rate of unintended pregnancies could drop by as much as 25 percent, according to a study published Friday in the journal Contraception.

House Republicans attached language to a major education bill Wednesday night that would financially penalize school districts that allow school-based health centers to provide information about abortion to pregnant high school students.

The amendment to the Student Success Act, a GOP overhaul of No Child Left Behind, would withhold...

Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that when she served in the House of Representatives in the late 1970s and early '80s, Congress was a far more hostile place for women than it is now.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) said on Sunday that even though he opposes gay marriage for religious reasons, he has plenty of gay friends -- just like he has friends who drink, curse and enjoy ballet.

"People can be my friends who have lifestyles that are not necessary...

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), a longtime opponent of abortion, announced in an op-ed on Tuesday that he now supports abortion rights after having talked to women in difficult circumstances throughout his home state.

"I have sat with women from Ohio and across the nation and heard them talk...

After initially rejecting an edgy advertisement about domestic violence in the National Football League, Sports Illustrated magazine has decided to run the ad on its website Thursday, just a few days before the Super Bowl.

The ad, created by the progressive advocacy group Ultraviolet, includes a dramatic...

Shortly after House Republicans had to cancel a vote on an anti-abortion bill that some members found to be too extreme, GOP congressmen on Thursday introduced three new abortion restrictions, including one that would require women to receive an ultrasound procedure before an abortion.

On the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark abortion rights decision in Roe v. Wade, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 242-179 to pass a bill that would codify a ban on federal funding for abortions.

The bill would prevent women from having their abortions covered by Medicaid; restrict...

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of a scheduled House of Representatives vote on a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, Republican leaders canceled the vote and replaced it with a less-controversial abortion limit, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- Democrats in both chambers of Congress will introduce a resolution Thursday that asserts the "constitutionally protected right to safe, legal abortion services," the same day that House Republicans will vote to roll back abortion rights.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) bucked the National Rifle Association on Thursday and vetoed a concealed carry gun bill that would have allowed some people with restraining orders issued against them for domestic violence to carry a concealed pistol.